Republic of Lithuania

Republic of Lithuania Country Brief

Country Objectives

Lithuania is in close proximity to the Russian Federation and borders The Russian exclave, Kaliningrad. My country has a lengthy history of strong, positive diplomatic relations with Western Europe and the United States and as a member of NATO we hope to help provide support for the goals of NATO in the Baltic Region. Diminishing Russian aggression in the Baltic Region and maintaining a strong NATO presence are important long-term goals because we do not want to face Russian invasion. Our small country must maintain strong relations with our larger allies for protection and to be certain we will not have to face the buildup of Russian military strength in Kaliningrad alone.

Treaties and Their Effects on National Objectives

List of treaties that the Republic of Lithuania is legally bound to uphold: Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Lithuania has applied to be a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime and is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Australia Group.

As for Biological and Chemical weapons Lithuania is part of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Lithuania does not currently have, or produce, any nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. They continue to pursue their goal of stability in the region and fending off Russian aggression solely with conventional arms. However, because Lithuania has the backing of the US and other military powers which poses nuclear weapons there is no real need for them to build and maintain a nuclear arsenal.

Import Weapons From

Lithuania imports arms mainly from other NATO members in the Baltic States with most arms coming from Germany. To name a few specific nations that we import weapons from there is Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Poland, the UK and the US. Most of the imported arms are missiles and vehicles. Lithuania imports these arms to help provide resources to their military which offers a great deal of border protection where Kaliningrad borders Lithuania.

Export Weapons To

According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Lithuania is not a big export of weapons and in the past five years they have not imported any weapons.

Strength of Arms

Lithuania would be considered developing in terms of its arms. Due to the small size of the nation and military there are not enough resources to build up the arms a great deal. Also, many of the arms that are imported are second hand and also considered somewhat technologically dated. While Lithuania itself may have a developing arsenal, because we are part of NATO, we have the support of the US as well as other global and nuclear powers.

Threats

A buildup of Russian military forces in Kaliningrad as well as increased Russian presence on the borders of former Soviet States as well as rising tensions between Russia and NATO and EU member states is cause for alarm. Lithuania needs to maintain its arms and military to ensure the southern border along Kaliningrad is protected and that our defenses are maintained.

Citations

https://www.nti.org/learn/countries/lithuania/

https://www.sipri.org/databases

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-buildup-in-kaliningrad-to-test-donald-trump-on-nato-1481279401